Friday, June 24, 2005

L 4-0

Zebulon, NC --- Jeff Franceour had three hits and three RBI to lead Mississippi past Carolina 4-0 in the series finale on Friday night at Five County Stadium.

Carolina's unbeaten start to the second half began to slip away when the Braves (1-3) connected four straight hits with two outs in the third inning against Luke Lockwood (L, 2-3).  Franceour doubled in Wes Timmons, who reached on a single.  Scott Thorman drove home Franceour with a base hit, ahead of a single by Iker Franco.

Meanwhile, Braves starter Chuck James (W, 4-0) fanned 11 in six innings, raising his season total to 116 in 94 1/3 innings.  James entered the game with the fourth highest total in strikeouts in the minors.  Within the shutout, four Mississippi pitchers combined to fan 17 hitters, including four Mudcat batters three times apiece.

Franceour singled in a run against Lockwood in the seventh, then homered against reliever Mike McNutt in the ninth.

Ray Aguilar will start the opener of the four-game series against the Birmingham Barons at Five County on Saturday night at 7:15 PM ET.  Aguilar (0-0, 1.80) is replacing Scott Olsen, who will make his major league debut for the Marlins at Tampa Bay.  The Barons will counter with Kris Honel (1-4, 6.64).

MISSISSIPPI            0 0 2   0 0 0   1 0 1   ---   4   12   1   9

CAROLINA               0 0 0   0 0 0   0 0 0   ---   0    6    0  10

WP - James (4-0)

LP - Lockwood (2-3)

S - None.

HR - Franceour (11)

Time:  2:49

Att:  5,488